This is a 2013 Halloween Contest entry. Please vote. If this story seems familiar, you may be recalling a story I submitted in the 2010 Halloween Contest with a different title. I recycled a few plot points for this new story in the same sense "West Side Story" recycled plot points from "Romeo and Juliet". I believe my writing has improved, and I hope this story is the proof.
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Anne graduated and found an entry level job across town, but I needed two more classes to complete my degree. We dreaded imprisonment in dormitories, so we scoured town looking for alternatives. A friend of a friend described a promising vacancy. He said a girl renting a nearby apartment disappeared without explanation. The landlady elected to find a new tenant.
When we saw the apartment, it suited us better than others we considered. It featured two bedrooms and one bath on the ground floor of an antique house two blocks from campus. Rent presented a problem. Even with her job and my small contribution from savings, we couldn't quite afford it.
"This apartment won't be on the market long," the landlady cautioned. "There's another party interested. If you want it, tell me as soon as possible."
"Can we sleep on it?" Anne begged.
"I have another appointment now, but I can meet you here at 8:00 tomorrow morning. I'll bring a rental agreement you can sign if you decide you want the place."
That night, Anne and I discussed our options. I resigned myself to settle for a worse place further from school, but Anne suggested we find another roommate to help with rent. Neither of us wanted to risk loosing the opportunity. We excitedly planned for me to go back to the house in the morning and sign the lease. Anne couldn't be there because she had an early meeting scheduled at work.
First thing in the morning, I stood outside the house admiring its architecture as I waited for the landlady to arrive. I checked the time and wondered if she might be inside. When I knocked on the wavy glass centered in the front door, the silhouette of a girl appeared. She fumbled one handed with the lock from the inside while struggling to balance a large box with her other arm. Old houses often have sticky doors and rusty locks. I called through the glass for warning and attempted turning the handle. It creaked and resisted but clicked, and the door swung open across the threshold.
To my surprise, the shadowy figured resolved into Kristen. She didn't recognize me at first, but she smiled when I said my name. Kristen and I dated right after high school graduation four years earlier. It didn't last because of Kristen's depressive moods. Her extreme neediness and aggressive sexuality scared me to death back then. Most of our dates ended with her tearful accounts of real or imagined social traumas. I suffered through our liaisons horny as hell, but I refused to make out with a sobbing girl even if that's what she wanted. I broke up with her after an incident when she invited herself to my parent's house: She attempted to suck my dick while my mother talked on the phone across the room.
"Kristen, what are you doing here?"
"I'm moving in," she explained.
My stomach sank. I was too late. Kristen must have snagged the place right after Anne and I left the previous day.
"Let me help you with that box," I offered and clutched it when it tilted beyond her control. "Anne and I toured last night and loved this place. I came back this morning to sign the lease."
Kristen looked impassive and said nothing.
Half joking, I asked, "Do you want two roommates?"
She appeared to consider the offer seriously and nodded with a "what the hell, sure" expression on her face.
"Really?" I asked, and she continued to nod.
I hadn't thought everything through before I asked Kristen, and I worried Anne wouldn't like the idea of living with one of my ex-girlfriends.
"Ah, I'll have to call Anne and make sure she agrees," I hedged while setting the box on the floor in the room Kirsten indicated.
We exchanged small talk for a while longer until I excused myself to call Anne at work.
Anne sounded just as excited as me on the phone. She knew about my past relationship with Kristen, but if Anne cared at all, it wasn't apparent to me. I assured her there were no feelings lingering between myself and Kristen. Anne said it wasn't too awkward, and I allowed Anne's optimism to convince me.
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A few days later, the three of us shared our new apartment. Anne and I took the larger bedroom. Kristen took the small one across from the bathroom. A comfortable routine developed. Anne woke up by 7:00 every weekday morning to get to work by 8:30. My classes met in the afternoon, so I often slept until 10:00 or later and worked on assignments before walking to campus for class and a bite to eat. Kristen showed zero interested in school. Most days, I left for school before Kristen was out of bed. On weekends, I often cooked a dinner, and the three of us sat around the small kitchen table.
The living arrangement encouraged casual intimacy. One bathroom meant sharing occasionally. A few days after arriving, I enthusiastically savored a shower when Kristen knocked loudly on the door.
"Let me in. I need to use the potty. Hurry!"
I reached from behind the shower curtain and unlocked the door. She burst in, dropped her pants, and squatted on the toilet. From behind the curtain, I studied her silhouette and listened to her steam of urine splash. She unrolled a generous length of paper to rub herself dry. With her pants still around her ankles, she stood, turned, and tossed the paper in the bowl. Then she pulled up the pants, zipped, and flushed. The shower water instantly turned scalding. I leaped from the flow and screeched.
"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, but she sounded amused.
She pulled the door closed as she left, but the door didn't latch. I waited a moment and then reached out to lock the door before I resumed jerking vigorously.
From then on, we shared the bathroom regularly. Anne often left the door open while she peed or showered. I made excuses on occasion to enter while Kristen showered. Kristen once spent twenty minutes brushing her teeth while Anne and I soaked together. I hardly waited for Kristen to leave before I pushed Anne up against the tile wall for a quick screw.
One Saturday morning, Anne went shopping while I stayed home to work on a large project. Anne returned after lunch and announced she bought me new clothes. She wanted me to try them on right then so she could return items I didn't want later in the afternoon. The interruption annoyed me, but I went into the bathroom and tried the first pair of jeans.
I heard Anne call through the door. "What are you trying?"